generated by his activities were used to finance scholarship grants and support for his community.

THE OPEN ERA & THE FILIPINO TENNIS SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

In 1968, amateur and professional players met on opposite sides of the net for the first time. The ITF and Jack Kramer, one of the games all-time greats, formed the Grand Prix International Circuit in 1970 which included the Grand Slam events namely Wimbledon, French, U.S. and Australian Championships. The men’s circuit offered a bonus pool for top players and concluded with the masters tournament at the end of each year. 1973 saw the emergence of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) which were formally organized by the players.

Along with the unparalleled growth of tennis on the recreational level during the "tennis boom" of the late 1960’s and 1970’s, no one anticipated the tremendous influence and growth of professional tennis. Many of the world’s young players opted to play professionally due to the lucrative financial incentives offered by the ATP and ITF Tours. The development of tennis in Europe and South America intensified with the emergence of teenage champions Bjorn Borg and Guillermo Vilas leading the pact respectively.

Despite the popularity of prize money tournaments, college tennis in the U.S still became a popular stepping stone to many players to give them time to develop physically, intellectually, as well as emotionally, before embarking on a life as a player on tour. For Filipino tennis players, it became a tradition to be awarded scholarship grants by American universities for excellence not only on the playing field but also in academics. The best young tennis players of the nation were sent to the U.S. for studies and unfortunately few have returned to the country to produce a critical mass of players necessary for international representation.

Two bright youngsters who represented the country in the late 1960’s after the legendary duo Ampon and Deyro retired were Eddie Cruz and Jose Villarete. Villarete a product of PCA, after having won the Asian Junior Singles Championships, decided to accept the award of a scholarship grant by Southern Illinois University, leaving Cruz to reign as the country’s best for almost 10 years. Together with Sammy Ang, Jr., Alex Marcial, Jesse Hernandez, Macky Dominguez, Ody Gabriel, Bien Dimalanta and Romeo Rafon, Eddie Cruz maintained the country’s descent status as one of Asia’s top tennis playing countries for almost a decade. Australian tennis players continued to make Manila their favorite stop for their tune-up matches before proceeding to Europe and America.

In the 70’s, Philippines produced numerous outstanding junior players such as Aureo Cambel (University of Cinncinati), Perfecto Alina, Jr. (Iral Roberts), Melecio Felix II, Joselito Ampon, Jose Lizardo (all four at Southern Illinois University), Eddie Gayon (South Carolina), Fortunato Battad and Beeyong Sison (both at Oklahoma City) and Enrique Capulong (Indiana State University), who gained notable achievements in college tennis championships in America. Aureo Cambel broke the school record of former world champion Tony Trabert in Cincinnati for most singles matches won in the NCAA